Jordan does not beg for investments; it offers lucrative opportunities — PM

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Thursday inaugurated the Gulf-Jordanian Economic Communication Forum.

In the opening speech, Ensour underlined Jordan's "brotherly and deep-rooted" relations with member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), expressing hopes that the forum will help expand bilateral economic ties, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

"As a result of these distinctive and brotherly relations, the volume of GCC member states' investments in Jordan amounted to $40 billion by the end of last year, distributed among all... sectors," Ensour said.

He also said that the volume of trade exchange between the GCC countries and Jordan reached around $5.7 billion in 2014, commending the preferential treatment given to Jordanian expatriates in the Gulf States who channel around $3 billion a year into Jordan's economy, Petra reported.

Expressing appreciation for the Gulf countries' endless support to Jordan, Ensour said that the GCC's grant to the Kingdom has contributed immensely to improving the infrastructure and basic services, Petra said.

Calling for more cooperation between Jordan and the Gulf countries, Ensour said that Jordan's population has increased dramatically over the past few years from 7 to 11 million, of which 1.4 million are Syrians, in addition to 500,000 Iraqis, 45,000 Yemenis and 35,000 Libyans, apart from more than 2 million Palestinian refugees.

Ensour also stressed that Jordan's resilience and stability serve the interests of the Gulf countries, saying, "…Your stability will be harmed if ours is harmed."

The premier also explained that Jordan's geopolitical location in the Arab region is "highly sensitive" as a result of its proximity to Palestine and Israel, adding that protecting Jordan should be the responsibility of all Arab states.

"Supporting Jordan does not cost you anything. All we need from our brothers is to invest in [this] country,” where their ventures would yield profits.

"Some Arab countries' investments outside the Arab region were at a certain point of time captive to certain political situations and, therefore, have always been vulnerable to measures like freezing assets. Money invested in Jordan is safe and would never be frozen under whatsoever circumstances… We do not beg for investments but we rather offer competitive opportunities."

Jordan Chamber of Commerce President Nael Kabariti expressed hopes in the forum’s ability to help business communities in the Gulf countries attract more Jordanians in addition to start economic ventures in Jordan.

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that the forum embodied Jordan’s keenness on enhancing its economic relations with the Gulf states, calling for taking the bilateral ties to a more advanced level, according to Petra.

Presiding over a panel on Jordanian-GCC economic and commercial ties, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury stressed that Jordan’s political, economic, social and security relations with the Gulf countries are strategic and based on mutual interests and the same destiny, a ministry statement to The Jordan Times said.

Fakhoury also voiced Jordan’s keenness on increasing its trade exchange with the GCC member states which stood at $7.7 billion in 2014, the statement said.